Fight the power

News blues

What to know about Covid’s BA.5, the “more transmissible” variant >>  (7:30 mins)

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Moving from Covid to cancer, will a proposed cancer tax go anywhere in the US?

It has been 50 years since President Nixon declared his War on Cancer. There have been incredible strides made in terms of survivorship, mainly due to improved treatments and earlier detection, but rates of new cancer – including a disturbing rise in pediatric cancer incidences – remain alarming. So, yes, we have and will continue to get better at treating cancer. Biden already has $1.8bn lined up for his cure-related Cancer Moonshot goals of scientific discovery and data sharing. But we also urgently need to get better at preventing cancer from happening in the first place.
… President Joe Biden’s mind when, earlier this month, he shared plans to reduce the cancer death rate by at least 50% over the next 25 years – a lofty goal for his Cancer Moonshot program.
To succeed, Biden needs a radical new approach. We’d like to propose one: a cancer tax.
The idea has solid precedent. There are already taxes on products known to create health problems, including a federal cigarette tax and sugary drink taxes. Think of a cancer tax like a carbon offset – corporations pay for the harm they inflict.
…Proceeds would be used to fund prevention, the most neglected element of cancer initiatives. Treatment gets about 97% to 98% of all health-related spending in the United States, while prevention gets a piddly 2% to 3%. But to end cancer as we know it, it is critical that we stop it before it needs a cure.
Prevention is not anti-cure. It’s complimentary – a one-two punch. While the science behind cancer treatment is truly astonishing, it’s equally remarkable how little we understand about why cancer occurs. Risk factors like genetics, age, and lifestyle all play a role, but how they combine is often unclear. Environmental factors, including the massive increase in the number of cancer-causing chemicals we all come in contact with every day, are clearly part of the equation. Most people aren’t even aware of these exposures, though many can and should be prevented – or at the very least reduced.

Read “If we want to fight cancer, we should tax the companies that cause it” >> 

Naturally, this era being out-of-control late-stage capitalism, “we” – the US legal-political-corporate decision makers - will never crack open the Pandora’s Box of taxing cancer-causing companies. I mean, holy s**t! Where to begin? If we can’t persuade the Donald Trumps (paid $750 tax in 2016 and 2017), and the Jeff Bezos, Elon Musks, Warren Buffets of the world, to pay taxes, how can We, the people, persuade corporations to do so? 
(Moreover, let’s recall it was Senator Joe Biden who got “us” into the endless trap of school loans  that hang around the necks of too many Americans attempting to “pull themselves up by their bootstraps.” 

On war and culture war

Cry, the beloved country! South Africans enjoy mimicking other countries’ cultures. But, pleeze, South Africans, do not mimic America’s culture of mass killings.
Alas.
“At Least 15 Killed In South Africa Bar Shooting.” Police say they are investigating reports that a group of men arrived in a minibus taxi and opened fire on some of the patrons at the bar shortly after midnight Sunday. 

Read more >> 

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Oh, man, Russia. 

What to say? 

My original intention vis-à-vis sharing news of Ukraine was simply let pictures tell 1,000 words of Russia’s invasion of and terroristic acts towards Ukraine and Ukrainians.
The time has come to include words about this international crime. Moreover, truth-seeking Russians within Russia apparently have difficulty accessing actual news, as opposed to propaganda pushed by Putin’s power structure. Plus, according to analytics, this blog is attracting readers from within Russia. I’m happy to provide a modicum of what’s reported outside of Russia about Putin’s invasion masquerading as a “special operation.”

At least 15 people were killed and two dozen more are feared trapped after Russian Uragan rockets hit a five-storey apartment block in Ukraine's Donetsk region, local officials said as rescuers picked their way through rubble.

Read “Death and devastation as Russian rockets hit Ukraine apartment block…” >> 

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Not much of a rap music fan, I nevertheless appreciate the lyrics and intention of “Fight the power”… Listen, enjoy, and think about >> (4:40 mins) 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch…

A month ago, while walking the neighborhood, I met Linda . I’d been impressed with her hard work, a woman older than me placing large rocks in the garden of a building she manages. We’d struck up a conversation that day and, when my passing by coincided with her gardening, we continued talking.
Busy with Mary and her recent diagnosis, Linda had fallen off my radar and I’d not seen her for more than two weeks.

Then, walking with a friend and pointing out Linda’s hard work in her garden, he pointed to this note I'd not seen.

As she requested, I called Linda. We met, as arranged, in her garden. I introduced my friend, Andy. Linda introduced her husband, Hugh, to us. 

We conducted a lovely visit over greenery and rockery. Turns out, her husband, once an avid rock climber, is now an avid sailor. (Around here, there’s more water than rock faces and Hugh adjusted accordingly.) 

I mentioned to Hugh that I’d sold a houseboat last year, after Covid interrupted my liveaboard plans. I mentioned, too, my intention to purchase another houseboat. “If I do, and you’re interested, Hugh, you can teach me to pilot it through the Delta.”

Hugh is interested.
Woo hoo! A (wo)man with a plan!
Next part of this woman’s plan: My bestie Mary overcomes her health challenges and soon, we’ll all be aboard grilling lunch, leaping into the water, enjoying life.